New On My Shelf This Week

Although this story line may be a little outside my usual reading genres, it has captured my imagination and is definitely heading for my TBR pile.

To be honest, this is also a book which needs little or no promotion from me as it is already soon to be a major motion picture from Imagine Entertainment and producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer – and that news before the official publication date, which is tomorrow, July 18th!

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‘AFTERLIFE‘

Between life and death lies an epic war, a relentless manhunt through two worlds…and an unforgettable love story.

The last thing FBI agent Will Brody remembers is the explosion—a thousand shards of glass surfing a lethal shock wave.

He wakes without a scratch.

The building is in ruins. His team is gone. Outside, Chicago is dark. Cars lie abandoned. No planes cross the sky. He’s relieved to spot other people—until he sees they’re carrying machetes.

Welcome to the afterlife.

Claire McCoy stands over the body of Will Brody. As head of an FBI task force, she hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. A terrorist has claimed eighteen lives and thrown the nation into panic.

Against this horror, something reckless and beautiful happened. She fell in love…with Will Brody.

But the line between life and death is narrower than any of us suspect—and all that matters to Will and Claire is getting back to each other.

From the author of the million-copy bestselling Brilliance Trilogy comes a mind-bending thriller that explores our most haunting and fundamental question: What if death is just the beginning?

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MARCUSSAKEY

Born in Flint, Michigan, Marcus fell in love with story at a young age and always dreamed of becoming a novelist. He attended the University of Michigan before beginning a decade-long career in television and advertising.

He was the host and writer of the acclaimed television show Hidden City on Travel Channel, for which he was routinely pepper-sprayed and attacked by dogs.

His debut thriller The Blade Itself, was sold at auction and published to wide critical acclaim, allowing him to work full-time as a writer.

To research his novels, Marcus has rappelled with SWAT teams, pub-crawled with bank robbers, dissected a human brain, chased pirate treasure, and learned to pick a deadbolt.

One of Marcus’s books has already been adapted as a feature film, with several others in various stages of film development.

But by far the greatest accolade to his excellent writing so far, is that his latest book ‘Afterlife‘, is soon to be a major motion picture by Imagine Entertainment and producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, and that’s before it is even officially published!

Marcus lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter, where he is a certified SCUBA diver and sailing captain, a rock climber, an accomplished carpenter, a spice junkie, and “a hell of a cook.”

I love telling stories for a living. The process of writing has its frustrations, but also its joys (there’s no high like typing “The End.”) The research is incredible. I love meeting other authors. I love working on something that’s purely mine. But the best part is the idea that I kept somebody up past their bedtime, or made them miss their train stop. As a lifelong addict of story, it makes me happy to think that my work might hit other people the way books hit me.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week. Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday now has a permanent home, where links may be added each week. So why not stop by, leave a link to your own Mailbox Monday post, oh! and don’t forget to leave a comment for our three new joint administrators, after all, we all like to receive them … Your Hosts for ‘Mailbox Monday’

Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

I haven’t come across Marcus’s work before, either in book or film format, so I am pleased to have been included in ‘Little Bird Publicity’s’ promotion of this title.

Some of the US press and media coverage for Marcus’s work has been amazing though and with his appearances on several of the mainstream US TV channels, I’m not surprised that you might have come across his name before!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, I always appreciate your comments 🙂

I’m sorry! But I can still only think of Ron Howard appearing as Richie Cunningham in ‘Happy Days’, back in the 70s and early 80s – I guess that’s just an age thing!

I have to remind myself just how successful his career has been as a high profile film director. To have someone of Ron’s standing take an interest in your work even before it was published, must surely have been a huge boost for Marcus.

Thanks for visiting today, I always look forward to reading your comments and have a great week 🙂

There have been some pretty amazing ratings and reviews for this book and whilst at its heart there is clearly a strong romantic element to the storyline, it doesn’t sound as though it overpowers everything else.

This is what ‘Publishers Weekly’ had to say about it and this type of comment is echoed time and again …

“Edgar finalist Sakey follows his Brilliance Trilogy with a remarkably conceived and passionately realized supernatural thriller.…Balancing lyric romance and altruistic self-sacrifice with horrifying scenes and wrenching violence, Sakey comes up with a fascinating answer to the eternal question of why humans exist.”

I’m definitely intrigued about the ‘Why Humans Exist’ questions the book raises!

Thanks for checking out this week’s post, it is great to hear from you 🙂

Marcus sounds like a very forward thinking, proactive author, who knows what he wants and goes after it! I had imagined that it would only be the well established, blockbuster authors who were able to command film rights before a book’s release. Ron and Brian must have been able to spot the potential in the story line!

Did you also spot the bit in Marcus’s biography where he tells the story of his debut thriller ‘The Blade Itself’, being sold at auction and published to wide critical acclaim, allowing him to work full-time as a writer?

A bit off the beaten track premise wise for me, I am strangely intrigued by the story line and can only possibly liken it to another similar book I read some years ago now …

I have read ‘The Recipient’ and to my shame, it is one of those books still outstanding a review, so I hope that Dean understands!

I gave it a 5 star rating and thought it was a brilliant story line, so I hope that you do get the opportunity to read it soon.

I would say that it is more than suitable as a book club group read, but my only concern would be for any members who may have had a heart transplant. They would need to be very resilient and open minded 🙂

Like yourself, this is the kind of thing I only read occasionally, however this premise really had me hooked from the outset and I think is going to involve a little more soul searching than other books I have tried in the genre….

“What if death is just the beginning?”

…is quite some question to grapple with, isn’t it?

It is great to have you stop by and I hope that all is well down in your neck of the woods 🙂

I’m not really sure who gets to make the decision about what form the premise of a book should take and how much in the way of ‘spoilers’ this should include.

The synopsis for ‘Afterlife’ is particularly good in comparison to many other books I have featured. It is well written and informative, without really giving too much away. It basically tells me all I need to know and would give me enough detail to make an informed choice if I came across the book in the bookshop.

Hi Yvonne – I really enjoyed the Brilliance trilogy so thank you for reminding me about this one. I had been invited to read this. Just had to break my NetGalley moratorium. But I am sure it will be worth it for this one. Your village visit reminds me of our visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon… except it was very cold (42) on July 5 that year. Hope you are enjoying summer time with Happy Reading!

As Marcus was a new to me author, when I was asked to promote ‘Afterlife’, as I always do with all new requests, I did a background check on both Marcus as an author and any other books he may have previously written.

I came across the ‘Brilliance’ trilogy before anything else and although that has received some amazing ratings and reviews, it is a little too far removed from my usual reading genres to really tempt me and I was quite pleased to discover that ‘Afterlife’ has slightly more of a thriller slant to the story line, which instantly intrigued me.

When hubbie was in the Air Force, we used to live in the heart of the Cotswolds, so Stratford-Upon-Avon was quite close to us and in an area we visited often. As with all the English small market towns and villages, they only look amazing and are well supported and visited when the weather is being kind to us. Make a return trip on a cold and miserable day and you will have a completely different experience!

I’m more of a spring and autumn girl myself, but I do have some great books in the pipeline 🙂